VIP: Azides Derived from Colchicine and Their Use in Library Synthesis: a Practical Entry to New Bioactive Derivatives of an Old Natural Drug

The natural product colchicine is an established antimitotic drug that targets microtubule formation by selective tubulin binding. In this paper Schmalz and colleagues report their efficient semisynthetic access to a library of novel colchicinoids, along with some initial screening results. K. Barry Sharpless commented on the work as being "one of the best quick-connect triazole SARs I've seen yet." Indeed, the compounds identified are promising candidates for the development of new antiproliferative drugs.